When adventurer Alastair Humphreys is not swimming the North Sea to wrestle with the polar bears you’d think he might rest his weary, world travelled soul on the sofa at home with the Eastenders Omnibus and a packet of chocolate digestives. Well you’d be wrong. He’d rather be hatching plans for a simple weekend escapade closer to home, something low key like taking a stroll around the M25 or walking home for Christmas – from Vauxhall to Kent.
So when he agreed to stay still long enough to compile a top ten of his happiest travel memories for Ooh.com, we sat up and took great interest. Be inspired by Alastair’s ‘Top 10 happiest travel memories’.
1. Winter packrafting in Scotland
Across Scotland in winter, from the West Coast to the East Coast, by foot and packraft. We walked from Morar to the River Spey, inflated our Alpacka packrafts and paddled down to the sea.
2. Campfire in Mexico
A photo that reminds me of hundreds and hundreds of happy nights under canvas.
3. Skydiving with my brother (he’s solo on the right)
4. Daybreak at sea when rowing to France
Major Phil Packer was injured on the 19th February 2008 in Iraq and suffered spinal cord damage. He is now in a wheelchair. Phil has decided to raise £1million for Help for Heroes and impressed with his attitude I dropped him an email offering to help in any way I could.
He suggested rowing to France. That wasn’t quite what I was thinking of. “Why not?” I replied.
5. A sure fire way to reboot your soul – jump into a river
Beautiful English countryside; autumn sunset; cool, clean, slow-running water 5ft deep: surely the danger to your life really comes from NOT swimming in rivers at moments such as these? Are we supposed to live, or merely exist through our days in a clinical, sterile tedium?
6. Cold, miserable Siberia
My magnus opus. I’m not sure I’ll ever trump the highs and lows of cycling around the world.
7. In the summer after university three of us hitchhiked round Spain and France, sleeping on swimming platforms out at sea…
All good fun until it began to pour with rain!
8. …and running with the bulls
Running like I have never run before, heavy with red wine, light and high on life, firing from the hip as I ran…
9. You don’t have to be on the other side of the world to create your fond memories. Here I’m training for the Bob Graham Round in the Lake District.
The Bob Graham Round is a circuit of 42 fells in the English Lake District, including the 3,000-foot (910 m) peaks of Skiddaw, Helvellyn, Scafell and Scafell Pike. It is considered by many as one of the most demanding tests of endurance for an amateur athlete or mountaineer.
10. Dawn on the Kaveri, one of the great holy rivers during my walk through India.
I travelled light, carrying only a small pack, sleeping under the stars and cooking on campfires, or staying in small villages. It was a physical challenge, a cultural education, and an old-fashioned adventure.
And finally… cliff jumping in South Africa. After school I headed to Africa for a year of epiphanies. This is where it all began.
Check out Alastair’s blog and beautiful photography. We love his frequently asked questions section, for some good honest answers about how it’s really done! And tell us about your favourite travel memories.
